Thursday, November 21, 2013

Tara first contacted me a little over a year ago to do some window treatments for her bedroom. We have since outfitted the rest of her home with custom window treatments. If you are having several custom window treatments made, it is best to have them done by the same person that they can all be uniform. Here are some things we did for her.

These curtains are made out of Les Touches Green Brunschwig & Fils. We ordered it through Lynn Chalk. We lined them with a matching green liner. You can see how the light reflects the green against the lower wall and window ledge. A subtle and pleasant little surprise without affecting the true color of the main fabric.

This fabric is stunning, so Tara decided to use it in a few places in her home.

This is a set of Rod Pocket Curtains also made from Pyne Hollyhock in Charcoal. We lined it in a pink liner. It offers a subtle, feminine look when the light shines through. It is gorgeous! Tara had a wonderful idea here to line her curtains in a colored liner instead of our standard white. Turned out breathtakingly gorgeous!

We will be making this into flat/classic roman shades. Stay tuned to see how they turn out!

Again, If you are going to go the custom route, it is best to have all the treatments made by the same person. At WTBM, I train all my seamstresses our own patterns, but even though we are all making the same product here, I still send returning customer orders back to the person that made their other window treatments to ensure that the treatments are all uniform and identical.

Contact me at windowsbymelissa at gmail dot com if you have any questions about anything you've seen here today and if you want to use any of the fabrics or ideas for your own custom treatments.

You should mount the shades inside the window frame if combining both shades and curtains. But this is not required. If you can't mount inside, you will need to make sure your curtain rod will provide enough depth so that the shade will not interfere with the functioning of the curtains. There should be some clearance in between the shade and the curtain.

Image courtesy or client Tara

I recommend mounting the curtain rod at least 5-8" higher than where the Roman will be placed and extend the curtain rod the same distance, or even as much as 10" to either side of the window so the curtains can gather beside the Roman Shades when opened.

If you can't mount higher than the shade you may mount the curtain rod at the same height as the shade, but, again, you need to be sure when selecting your curtain rod that it will allow for plenty of clearance between the curtain and the shade to operate correctly.

In the case of combining Roman Shades and Curtains, it is best to line the shades with standard drapery lining and the curtains with blackout liner. This way you are given options. If you want privacy, but still want light, you can just close your Roman Shades. If you want the room to be darkened, you may close your curtains.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

In response to our new "Ask Melissa" segment on the blog, someone asked what could be done with a yard of fabric. And so here we are. One yard wonder! We are going to bring you project ideas that are simple and do it yourself projects that can be done with a yard or less!

Remember our "The Ugly Fabric Challenge" earlier this year? Someone submitted this lovely fabric called "Wacky Turds." And the challenge was to make something appealing with this ugly fabric. And I made these:

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Today's one yard wonder is how to make enhance your bathroom décor with less than a yard of fabric. Here's what you need:

1) Bathroom towels, 2) Cotton Fabric, and technically you can stop here, but I like to add 3) piping, just for a little something extra.

First measure the width of your towel.

In this case my hand towel is 15" wide.

Then you will want to cut the width of your fabric.

It really doesn't matter exactly how wide you cut it. The point is that the pattern gets centered. In the case, I cut to 4.5" wide. After ironing the edges over the total height will measure 3.75". The wacky turn band is only 2.5" high. The most important thing is that you get the part of the pattern you want centered. For the matching washcloths, I'd use just one row of the polka dots instead of two as seen for the hand towels and bath towels.

Then I cut 4" over the total width of the towel, which, in this case, was 19".

Then iron over the edges keeping your pattern centered. I folded the edge over to the very top of the circles.

Then place the fabric band where you want it on the towel. I recommend at least two inches. But up to four is good too.

Technically you can pin and sew at this point. But I like to add piping just to finish off those edges nicely.

If going the piping route, tuck the piping under the fabric on both the upper and lower sides.

Then sew that to your towel using your zipper foot.

This is what it will look like after sewing on the band and piping.

Then you will want to iron the edges over to the back side of the towel. First trim off excess. Then fold the raw edge over once, then again so the overhang on the backside is about 1/2" over.

Monday, November 4, 2013

The first, and one most often run into, is light weight quilter's cottons. While it is possible to make a roman shade out of quilter's cottons, I don't recommend it. They lay limp and flat and don't have much body. Here's how you know if you're looking at a quilter's cotton:

Quilter's cottons are typically defined by their weight and also their width. Their weight can be found on the side of the bolt on the label with the other details. You will find details like 44"/45" width, the weight may be anywhere from 3-6 oz per square foot, and the descriptive word will usually say, "Lightweight."

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Pardon the "over the door" hanging on these pictures. They're from our early days before got pictures in from clients. ;)

Notice in the first image, the red hobbles shade as compared to the blue one. The red is a medium weight home décor fabric and the blue is a light weight quilter's cotton. The blue hobbled shade's pleats lay flat and it just looks boring. The red one looks much more full.

NOW, on home décor fabric. You should be looking for descriptions such as: medium weight, 6 oz- 10z per weight, or simply the description, "Home Décor Fabric." But not all home décor fabrics will produce the greatest shade. Silk, faux silk and sheer do not create the greatest looking shades.

The silks, faux silks and sheers are often lighter in weight or their weave does not allow for smooth topstitching. For the shade to operate correctly, we sew through all layers of fabric so that when the shade is pulled up, it all comes up together and forms the pleats. But in doing this with the lighter weights, the fabric tends to bunch under all the layers of material, as you can see in the images above.

The best looking roman shades are made from

Cotton:

Polyester:

Linen:

Basket weave or burlap:

The most important things to look for are the weight, it should be medium weight or heavier; the width, appropriate fabrics are usually 54" wide or wider; and the type, the best fabric are made from cotton, polyester, linen, basket weave or burlap.

Please leave any questions you have here and we'll write about them in the upcoming weeks.